milestones

The decade of change, new friendships, failures, tears, betrayal, heartbreak, success, laughter, commitment, new relationships, fear, travel and new adventures. The decade I found love....a toast to the decade that changed my life……CHEERS!

Some of my recent creations

Out of all the cards I have made till now these are my favorties. I made the pink butterfly card for didi on her 31st bday. The yellow buttrlfy card was for a collegue who retired last week. i have a thing for butterflies :)

Strangers

“We will be shortly arriving Durham station, please check your belongings before you leave the train”. I removed my ruck sack and proceeded towards the exit. There was an old lady dragging her suit case with lots of effort but I was so busy adjusting the volume of my I-pod that I didn’t help her. The train slowed down, I could now see Durham Castle under the half moon sky. It was pitch dark outside. “Shall I help you with your bag” I asked, her face lit up, “you are very kind”, she replied. The train halted, I got off and then lifted her suitcase, it was heavy, I was embarrassed for not helping her earlier. To make it up for it I walked her to the taxi stand, put her suitcase in the boot and said good bye.

I started walking towards the bus stand. The road from Durham railway station till the bus stand can be quite spooky at night. I removed my I-pod to be aware of what’s happening around me. I don’t believe in ghosts but who wants to take a chance!

On reaching the bus stand I found out that I had just missed a bus and now there was no bus to Birtley. Only if I had not helped the old lady I would have been able to catch the last bus. Damn! To save money I decided to take the bus till Chester-le Street and then take a taxi. Another 20 minutes wait alone at the bus depot, with just a couple other passengers, probably half drunk. I could have been home in this much time. Only if I had come straight to the bus stand, I cursed myself again.

Finally the bus arrived and after 15 minutes I reached Chester-le Street. There was not a soul on the road. Luckily there were 2 taxis outside the pub. I quickly glanced at the two drivers, driver 1 – ‘young Asian’ and driver 2- ‘old White’. I quickly hopped in taxi 3, It is not that I trust and English man over an Asian, but I prefered to be with an older driver.

“Birtley please”, I said. “Long night eh”, he said. Now I must tell you that it takes hardly 10 minutes from Chester-le Street to Birtley. In these 10 minutes we exchanged what we had been upto during the weekend, he told me where he lived, how long he had been married and what her daughter does and in return I told him that my husband studies in Manchester Business School and I plan to move to London after he graduates. Here we were two strangers exchanging irrelevant details, as if we were old pals. We reached my apartment, I gave him a 10 pound note, and he returned the 1 pound change. “Thank you”, I said, “it was great chatting with you, good night”.

He quickly replied “Get yourself in the house first, switch on the lights; I will leave when you are safely inside. I have a daughter your age and she lives alone, I would never leave her at the door like this all alone”.

I was speechless, I smiled, got off, turned the key in my door, got inside switched on the light and waved him goodbye.

I couldn’t have a good look at his face and will probably not recognize him if I see him again, but I will never forget this small gesture of a stranger. Probably the old lady was also thinking the same about me. I walked up the stairs cursing myself for blaming her when I missed my bus.

My letter to the Sun God

Dear Sun God ,

I hope you must be fine. I would request you to kindly take some time out of your busy schedule and read this letter from your most humble devotee.

I will have to give you a small background for the purpose of this letter. A few years ago an astrologer told me that my “Surya rashi” is weak and to rectify this I should offer you water every morning. Since that day like a dutiful child I have followed the ritual of offering you water 5 times every morning. Every morning after taking a bath and getting ready I light the “diya” in pure “ghee” and I say the shani mantra 108 times. To be honest while I am chanting the mantra I am not thinking of you, my mind keeps on wandering, but I do complete my 108 times chant. Then I say Gayatri Mantra 5 times and offer you water. I am not sure whether you even get that water, being miles away from Earth, but then you are the supreme God, you must possess divine powers to receive my offering.

Now coming to the point, since past few weeks I have noticed that no matter how cloudy it is, as soon as I am about the offer water to you, you emerge from the clouds, shining brightly, as if you have appeared out of the clouds especially to accept my offering and bless me. I know it is a very silly thought, but it makes me feel very special, the fact that the almighty Sun God, the busiest of all Gods, shining brightly 24 hours a day, whole year, himself takes out 2 minutes every morning just for me. I must be your favorite devotee!!!!

You know God, it was easier in India as I used to pour the water in my mother`s “tulsi” plantbut here in the foreign land with no “tulsi” plant I have no other option but to pour the water in a tumbler. I was planning to replace the tumbler by another plant and put it in a better place rather than near the sink, but I was just not able to find the time. Today I felt ashamed of myself when I saw you smiling at me yet again and I thought to myself that the least I can do is buy a nice plant and offer you water in a proper way.

I am a well educated girl brought up to think reasonably and logically. I know in my heart that you must not be receiving even a drop of the water but I still continue with my daily ritual. My logical thinking doesn’t make me lose my faith in you dear God. The truth is that those 5 minutes in the morning is the only time I when I remember you and thank you. You are my thread of hope, a hope that everything will be alright, a feeling that you are looking after me and will protect me.

I just want to thank you Dear God for blessing me every day. I am looking forward to see you tomorrow morning. I really enjoy our silent rendezvous.

With best regards

Manik

Three words not said enough

As i was walking back home tonight from work the phone rang. It was the routine weekly call whichI always looked forward to.

I said, "Hello", sounding as cheerful as possible but he sounded depressed. It was the same usual conversation revolving around my work, rain in Mumbai, my eating habits and my driving lessons. There was a softness in his voice and also a tinge of lonliness. He must really miss me I said to myself. He told me how much he remembers me and talks about me to all his friends. I felt sad for not being able to spend more time with him after all that he has done for me. After all I am what i am today because of him. I told him that I was looking forward to his trip in October. He asked me to take good care and eat right. It was time to say goodbye. In all these years we have never spoken for more than 3 minutes over the phone but i know those 3 minutes meant the world to him.

Just before he hung up he said, "I love you". I was surprised, he does not say this to me very often, it is usually just "I miss you". I smiled again and said, "I love you too Dad"

Aren't we proud to be Indians?

I was sitting in 7:48 Vashi-CST train and a lady in mid 20s came and sat opposite to me. She appeared to be from a lower middle class family, dressed in salwar kameez, carrying a polythene and a hand bag. She hurriedly started peeling an orange, and started throwing the peels on the floor. She seemed so hungry not to care that I was looking at her scornfully. Then she started sucking the orange pieces and the rest of the peels went down on the ground again. I took out my HSBC credit card bill envelop and asked her to use it; she took it without any expression, no embarrassment, no guilt. Infact I think she must have thought that I am a fool. She must have thought its my country, my train, I paid for the ticket, so I can do what I wish. I wondered if she would have done the same if she was sitting in her house???
I cursed her, then thought probably she is illiterate, but then I wondered "What has education got to do with cleanliness?" As a matter I don’t think one has to be qualified in any manner to understand that its important not to dirty places around you. It doesn’t matter what age you are, from what kind of family you come from. All individuals should realize the importance of cleanliness, irrespective of caste, creed, age, sex, financial status, etc.
And while I was having all the above thoughts, the lady who had used the envelop given by me to put the peels now carefully folded it and threw it out of the train.... the most satirical ending........I smiled and thought…..aren’t we proud to be Indians?